SHIZUOKA -- Watching penguins eat horse mackerel as the fish flow by in a long trough is a popular annual event at an aquarium in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
This year's event kicked off at Awashima Marine Park on Thursday. The trough is reminiscent of how cold nagashi-somen noodles are eaten in summer.
The event began in 2015 at a suggestion of a keeper, and became popular with visitors after it trended on video-sharing sites.
The penguins that gathered beside the 8-meter-long trough on Thursday caught horse mackerel as soon as they saw the fish flowing by. Penguins usually eat food from the hands of their keepers, so they were trained for about two months before the event.
"Following the fish with their eyes and swallowing them from their heads is good stimulus for the penguins at the aquarium," a keeper said.
The event will take place twice daily, at 10:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., through Aug. 30.
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